Cox performed more of a ceremonial role during her father's political career than did her younger sister Julie Nixon Eisenhower, accompanying him to many campaign stops and, after his presidential inauguration, state trips around the world.

She has lived a very private life in the suburbs of New York, staying home to care for her son, Christopher Nixon Cox, born in March 1979.[5] Her husband is now a corporate attorney and the chairperson of the New York Republican State Committee. She serves on the boards of many medical-research institutions,[6] as well as the Richard Nixon Foundation at the Nixon Library in California.[7]